Cops, crooks and cocaine: The story behind Quebec's mega drug bust

When 1,000 cops are assigned to a single operation you have to figure something’s up – something big.

And once the dust had settled in the wake of Operation Loquace, a multi-force investigation that saw the RCMP, Surete du Quebec and Montreal police carry out more than 100 arrests and break up an alleged drug ring that made $50 million in five months, it was clear something big WAS up.

But what’s remarkable about the raids is that the ring they busted seems to have been an association of independent dealers rather than the usual suspects, an alliance of money, muscle and distribution rarely seen in a form of crime usually dominated by organized crime.

Is this the future of illegal drug dealing in Canada? And where, if anywhere, does the mafia figure in this?

We asked Gazette police reporter Paul Cherry for the back story on a mega-bust that is sure to send shock waves through the underworld.

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